Con man Ace Connors (John Hodiak) has hidden $500k in bonds in a cookbook. He encounters con woman Ricki Woodner (Lucille Ball) and blows up her scam. He has been caught for the bond theft and has do a deal to reduce his sentence. His partner Fly Feletti (Elisha Cook, Jr.) is not happy with his cut. Police detective Bob Simms (Lloyd Nolan) accompanies him to New York to close the deal. Ricki follows them onto the train.

This should have been a fun con vs con flick but the cop gets into the way. It should have been simple with plenty of double-crossing and triple-crossing. The first con has a fun ending. It's the start of something but it ends there. Instead of a fun romp, it tries to be a romantic melodrama. The villainous Fly could have added more tension but he's not showcased enough. Again, the cop sucks up the space that would have been better served with the Fly. In the end, nothing really works in this movie. Even the romantic chemistry suffers. There is a Mardi Gras section but that is only marginally interesting. Imagine Lucille Ball playing a fun con woman character in a fun cat-and-mouse con game. This is not that.

A couple of people who make their living just over the line between citizen and criminal fall in love. An unlikely romance between Lucille Ball and John Hodiak when Hodiak queers an art con game she's running on mark Lloyd Corrigan.

Despite that bad beginning these two fall in love as Hodiak is being taken back from Mexico to the USA by cop Lloyd Nolan. Hodiak has safely stashed some bonds he stole that when they are cashed will net him a nice lifetime income so he's copping a plea to a lesser charge and then will be fleeing presumably to a non-extradition jurisdiction to enjoy life after his sentence is up.

The fly in this ointment is Elisha Cook, Jr. playing a more adult and tougher version of Wilmer the gunsill from The Maltese Falcon. He wants in or he wants all the proceeds and he doesn't care how he gets it.

Given the talent involved this should have been a better film. But I think too much time was devoted to Hodiak and Ball who really have no chemistry at all. That con game with Corrigan had some of the best moments in the movie and the climax shootout among the Mardi Gras revelers in costume was done well also.

But it sags in the middle like a swayback horse.

This was Lucille Ball's final film for MGM. Though she didn't like it, she's very good and has nice chemistry with John Hodiak. They are ably supported by Elisha Cook, Jr., and Lloyd Nolan.

Con man Hodiak is headed back to prison on a train with detective Nolan when they meet con woman Ball. Gangster Cook wants the bonds Hodiak is hiding. The two leads fall for one another. There is a long Mardi Gras scene at the end of the film. Ball looks fantastic in the festival gowns.

Light fun. Directed by Jules Dassin without the flair that would make him one of the great directors.